1. Field of Use
The present invention relates to data processing systems and in particular, power systems which provide voltages required for operating such data processing systems.
2. Prior Art
In some systems, the various power supply units of the different units of a data processing system include logic circuits for converting regulated voltage power supply signals to voltage levels for signalling the power confidence of such units to the systems. In such systems, it was necessary to connect the power unit circuits and logic circuits to different ground reference voltages. This in turn introduced noise into the logic circuits. Since such systems were implemented with transistor logic circuits which operated with high voltage thresholds, such noise did not affect system operation.
However, it has become advantageous to consolidate the power control of data processing systems within a central panel thereby increasing the noise levels in which system circuits must operate. Additionally, for reasons of increased system performance, such systems employ high speed low level logic circuits.
Hence, it has been found that operating such logic circuits in such arrangements could give rise to unreliable signalling as to the power confidence or integrity of systems units.
Another disadvantage of the above arrangements is that because the logic circuits were included within the power circuits of each unit, it was difficult to determine whether a voltage failure is the cause of a particular unit not operating properly.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved power confidence system suitable for use with high speed low level logic circuits.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power system which facilitates the diagnosis of power supply voltage failures within a data processing system.